Although Cornell will forever be identified with the wave of grunge artists who surged up and displaced generations of veteran artists from the airwaves in the early '90s, he'd clearly earned the respect of his elders along the way.

Some of the first to honor Cornell's musical legacy in the wake of his passing were Elton John and Kiss co-founder Paul Stanley, both of whom expressed shock and sadness upon hearing the news.

Also among the earliest rock greats to pay their respects to Cornell were Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry, who called the singer's death "a sad loss of a great talent," and Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, who described Cornell as "incredibly talented, incredibly young, incredibly missed."

Artists from Cornell's peer group have obviously been shaken by his death. Smashing Pumpkins vet Jimmy Chamberlain described himself as "so sad" after hearing the news, and held Cornell up as "one of the greatest singers of our generation and a kind soul." The members of Rage Against the Machine, some of whom worked with Cornell in Audioslave, shared a Spotify playlist in his honor and urged followers to "celebrate the genius of Chris Cornell."

Hit hardest of all, understandably, are the members of Soundgarden. The band hasn't released an official statement as of this writing, but the most recent post on its Facebook page is a video tribute to Cornell that lets the music speak for itself — as it did so often during their late frontman's life.